Yeah, at that point, I was afraid I was going to spend the rest of my life there. I started thinking about my mother. I was thinking I was super stupid. I don’t think I was regretting it, but I hadn’t been thinking during the process, and suddenly it hit me that what I had done had consequences. I didn’t know it had consequences while I was doing it. I was just doing it because it needed to be done. And please don’t try to make it look like it was something huge, because people were burning themselves, and I bought loudspeakers.

How many days were you there for?

Four days. I was released on the fourth day.

So what did they tell you when you were released?

They didn’t tell me anything. They gave me my Russian passport back and were like, “Oh, you got lucky this time.” I left, and there was my mother in tears, and her face was all red. She learned to play video games over that period. She has never played video games in her life. After she learned I was in jail, she started nonstop.

As a coping mechanism?

Yeah.

And what ended up happening with Youssef?

I met Youssef again in January on the night news broke that Ben Ali had left. Everyone went out on the street to celebrate, and that’s when I saw him again. We spoke about the jail experience and blah blah blah, and he was saying that since Ben Ali left, we should make an organization that rehabilitates people after jail, and that we should meet to discuss that. So yeah [laughs]. That was his pick-up line, I guess.

That’s a pretty dope pick-up line. I’m wondering—how did it feel to be living in a country where all of this was happening, to be a part of it, and then watch it happen in other countries in the Middle East and North Africa?

When the revolution was happening, everyone felt like there was nothing else in the world but Tunisia, and Tunisians, and Ben Ali. When Ben Ali escaped, we started following these events, trying to reintegrate in the bigger context. But Ben Ali left us a little gift: he released everyone from jail, and some people were going into houses, robbing and raping people. We started worrying about ourselves. I was looking over my Facebook timeline yesterday, and my statuses were “Come hide in my house, my neighberhood is safer.” I’d be on the phone with a friend and hear her cry that people were trying to break in to the house. Victory was brief. Many people were still suspicious, thinking the chaos was a way for us to choose safety-plus-Ben Ali over freedom-plus-danger. It was a very life-changing moment—the month after the revolution—but afterwards, everything goes back to normal life. It’s saddening to see.

What do you mean?

This is just my personal opinion, but Islamists are trying to steal the revolution. During the revolution, there wasn’t a single religious slogan, not one. Now there are calls for bans on abortion and bans on women in politics. The bright side is, ever since Ben Ali was overthrown, the wall of silence has been broken. The people will get a taste of religious indoctrination, and they will revolt once again.

After four days in jail, are you more cautious now? Are you more afraid about run-ins with the law?

I think I will be smarter about it, because I will be of no use if I am in a cell. I’m not saying I am that important that I need to be outside of jail. But I am planning to run for city council in Tunisia at some point.

I think you are very important, and I want you to stay out of jail. What do you want to say to teenagers who are trying to understand what’s happening in Tunisia and the Middle East? I think people sometimes have trouble understanding what feminism looks like in countries where women wear veils, for instance.

I guess someone who has their basic civil rights would not really understand what is going on, because they do see commercials for shampoo. People take things like that for granted. So I would say: do not make assumptions. I do not necessarily believe in a national identity—you cannot summarize a human life based upon where he lives or what his background is. If you are to summarize at all, then summarize him as a human being, which you are as well, so you have that in common. And do not take things for granted. You’re able to wake up and call your friends and have a sleepover.

Well, you are an incredible person. Thanks so much for talking to me. What’s your first meal going to be when you end your hunger strike?

Thank you. You are… an amazing human being. I hate that teenagers in the US always complain about things, like politics that they don’t like, but won’t do anything about it. The young people of Tunisia toppled an entire government in a month. Why can’t we even get politicians to listen to us? Because we just complain, complain, complain, but don’t do anything. We don’t vote, we don’t get involved, we don’t do anything. This is why politicians don’t cater to us. Anyway, thank you, Roula Seghaier, for being freaking awesome.

This is why I love Rookie so much.
Getting to hear from a girl about my age who is actually present in these situations that I only hear about in the news is such a phenomenal opportunity. Let alone the fact that she is such an incredibly brave inspiration!
Her last words are amazingly powerful–don’t make assumptions or take things for granted and if you have to summarize someone else, summarize them with the commonality of humanity.

Great interview, and I am very pleased to see the mention of the Palestinian hunger strikers.
I would love to see Rookie talk about Palestine – maybe talking to teenage girls in Aida Refugee Camp, for example?

This is absolutely amazing. I think a lot of teenagers don’t really know how to get involved and are a bit scared to take the initiative because it’s not something that’s encouraged. I’m Russian and even my family, who is quite outspoken in their criticism of the government, didn’t want me to participate in the demonstrations in Moscow this summer. While they obviously had legitimate concerns for my safety, I think it was mainly because of how people see teenagers – we’re just too young, our opinions don’t really count no matter what they are. Thank god Rookie exists.

Yes! I love love love what Roula said about how if you have to summarize someone summarize them as a human being, because really what’s more important than that?ALSO– you guys should do an article about the Syrian revolution, there’s so much going on and though it’s not easy to get in touch with people inside Syria I just found out that a group of Syrian women formed an all women’s resistance brigade and are fighting on the frontline in Aleppo. Also Syrian writer Samar Yazbek wrote a book called A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution about the first 100 days of the revolution which I HIGHLY recommend. It’s just a crazy and sad thing but beautiful in the way that the Syrian people are persevering. THAT IS ALL.

This girl is very brave and kudos to her for standing up for what she believes in. However, I would like to hear a little more about Israel’s side. Plenty of times Israelis are held prisoner in Pakistan with unfair treatment and there is little to no media attention about most of these cases (excepting Gilad Shalit).

This is such an important article that the American public desperately needs. Voices like these (especially when they are pro-Palestine like Roula) are often completely ignored or worse silenced by mainstream media sources.

THANK YOU!
- Sara

Dear Roula,

I grew up in a Muslim community, and while I still identify as Muslim, my best friends from that community now identify as atheist. As difficult as it was for their parents initially, they came to accept their children. So be patient with your family, it will pay off.

In the US, many of our Muslim-American communities are very social justice-minded. What I love is that even as people choose to no longer be Muslim, they continue to be activists because of values they learned growing up (equal and fair treatment of women, the poor, etc.). I wouldn’t try to claim it’s the same in Tunisia, but I just wanted to share my experience.

Finally, you are amazing. I really believe we are living in a time of real global shifts and activists like you are making it happen. I hope the movement is able to stay strong and resist the influence of Islamists.

This is great, I love it when Rookie does stuff like this to inspire young people (and adult ones too!) to get active.
Just one thing that I think would be worth thinking about though: maybe I’m wrong (although I read rookie consistently) but I’ve never seen Rookie make articles about the political repression going on in the US and in Canada, about the things that have happened in the different free trade agreements in Toronto, Seattle, Miami, etc., about the persecution and repression that happened in Quebec -and about how the students there managed to freeze tuition in spite of the repression!- and about the current persecution of anarchists, including the 3 that have been subpoenaed and taken to a grand jury, and sent to jail (one which is out and just recently spoke out against the sexism shown by both enemies and supporters while she was in jail). How come rookie spoke out when Pussy Riot was arrested, but not when these people were broken into their homes by homeland security simply because they were suspected of being anarchists? About how HS is doing this just to find anarchist literature, therefore making even reading about anarchism practically illegal? It just continues giving people the American exceptionalist idea that all third world governments are corrupt and America -although having issues- does not torture people psychologically (both citizens and those abroad) and put them in solitary confinement simply for being anarchists/communists/green activists and not wanting to tell them about other anarchists/communists/greens they know.

(or that the American government doesn’t take advantage of mentally unstable people and young people in order to make an excuse to persecute an entire political group http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/three-nato-protesters-terrorists/6119/ ) (or that the government most believe democratic is responsible for most of the dictatorships in the Middle East, and many in Africa, Asia and Latin America)

I remember when rookie got sponsored by that MTV show I freaked out because it made me fear it would severely compromise how radical they can go with their approach. It scares me how much people are embracing “radical feminism” while ignoring all the “inconvenient” parts of it. My boyfriend got banned from the supposedly radical feminist facebook page “guerrilla feminism” for writing a comment critiquing Obama.

Also, I can totally identify with the thing about her parents, and the fact that she was running such a high risk only carrying a Russian passport gives me a lot of encouragement. I’m not a citizen and my parents are always telling me the exact same thing they tell her, and on top of that are scared that if I get arrested I could get kicked out of the country so they always get paranoid when I go out to protests and actions. But it’s a small risk compared to what many completely undocumented people go through when thy are fighting for their rights here in the US. Seriously what she and these people do is incredibly brave.

Amazing piece. Really interesting! Thank you for covering a topic like this, Rookie!
I’m floored by Roula’s resilience and determination, but I don’t really understand what she means when she says ‘Islamists are trying to steal the revolution.’
I’ve been keeping up with the facts since day one, and what I know is that the revolution happened for many reasons: because people wanted to be able to participate in political matters, because people wanted employment rates to increase and they wanted Islam to be practised properly and to allow religious freedom (so people of other religions wouldn’t be discriminated, Islam teaches that people are equal).
The rulers of these Arab countries are NOT Muslim, they once called themselves Muslim but they contradict every single aspect of Islam. Islam does not say those in authority should kill their citizens. Most of the dictators called themselves God – so how could they be Muslim?
I’ve watched videos of people protesting in Arab countries and they’re all clapping their hands shouting, ”Allahu Akbar” – God is great! The woman protest in their headscarves and there are videos of people praying in the mosques asking God to help them.
People are getting confused and thinking that the rulers and dictators want Islam and the public do not. This is not true, just hit up some videos on Youtube and you’ll see! They’re inspired by the Turkish government – which is Islamic.
The bottom line is that the Arabs want change in the country and one of these changes involves a better practise of their religion (and freedom for others)..

What part of this interview is “really anti-Islam” to you? Roula’s father is Muslim. At no point in this interview, does she indicate or flat out state that she is anti-Islam. She is an active member of Students for Justice in Palestinian, which is a radical student group that has fought very bravely and very thoughtfully for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to live on their land without being attacked or forced out. In fact, many people have accused this group of being too much PRO Islam (which I don’t agree with personally, but felt compelled to point out in light of your comment.) When Roula expressed that she is disappointed with the role Islamists have had in Tunisia post-revolution, I think it’s important to remember that a few radical Islamic extremists do not represent the full range of the needs and beliefs of all Tunisian, or all people of the Muslim faith. If that distinction was not made explicitly enough, then that’s my own fault. A few days before this interview was posted, we had a post expressing our support and well-wishes for Malala Yousafzai. We had a gallery of hundreds of get well cards for Malala, who is a devout Muslim. There is a difference between being anti-Taliban, for example, and anti-Islam, and I think many, many devout Muslims would agree with that.

I forgot my username so I had to come back to this article to find it (how stupid am I, honestly?) … But now I want to say that Jenny, I love your articles here and I have gained so much more respect for you after reading the comment above! You deserve a round of applause just for writing that! It’s things like this that make me love Rookie more and more because everyone here is so tolerant, loving and accepting of people of all ages, races, faiths and colours. Islam is misrepresented so much by a small group of radicals and like you said, they do not represent the entire faith. Once again, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful comment Jenny! SO well written and well thought out.

Yoo-hoo! August’s theme is GIVE AND TAKE, and we’d like to take into consideration whatever submissions you have to give about that! (Even/especially if they’re as cheesy as we just were.) Send pitches to submission@rookiemag.com. ✴

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Rookie is a website for teenage girls. With monthly-themed content, we update three times every weekday, and once a day on weekends. Click here to find out where to send stuff you'd like us to see. Learn about the people who write this thing here.